Mercadona Buys 3 More Logistics Plots In Sagunto

12 June 2017 – Expansión

The Parc Sagunt industrial estate, which has been dormant for years and which has been promoted by the Sepi and the Generalitat Valenciana, is set to become one of the main logistics centres of the supermarket chain Mercadona.

In December, the group announced the purchase of the largest plot on the estate, measuring 358,000 m2 in total, for the construction of a buffer warehouse. On Friday, the Board of Directors of Parc Sagunt – in the Valencian town of Sagunto – announced the sale of another three, smaller, plots to Mercadona. Together, these latest plots cover a surface area of 211,000 m2.

The operation in December saw Mercadona pay €24 million, whilst the acquisitions announced on Friday amounted to €17 million. As such, to date, the chain has spent €41 million buying plots of land in Parc Sagunt. Oriol Montanyà, Logistics Director at Mercadona, said that these plots “will serve to complement the future requirements that may arise at the main warehouse that the company plans to build with service, grouping and packaging warehouses”.

Cluster of suppliers

The idea that Parc Sagunt could end up being a logistics cluster for Mercadona’s suppliers is gaining momentum, given that, on Friday, the industrial estate also approved the sale of another plot of land, measuring 16,000 m2, to the company Vostok, which is going to pay €1.4 million. That company has very close links with Mercadona, given that it collaborates with (…) its integrated supplier Patatas Lázaro, which works almost exclusively for the supermarket chain.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mercadona Acquires Logistics Plot In Valencia For €24M

9 December 2016 – Expansión

The supermarket chain Mercadona is preparing to build a new logistics centre in Parc Sagunt, the largest industrial estate in the Community of Valencia, which is almost empty at the moment.

The firm has acquired a plot measuring 358,270 m2 for €24 million, on which it will construct a logistics block. The centre will not be used to supply the chain’s stores directly, like its existing centres, but will instead centralise the storage and distribution of products to the other logistics centres. It will be the first point of receipt for products that due to their nature require this kind of logistic management, for example, perishable goods, goods from the same supplier and goods imported through ports.

Sources at Mercadona explain that, for the time being, the definitive design for the centre and the total investment have not been defined.

The chain currently operates thirteen logistics centres and three satellite warehouses. In total, it has a surface area of 854,000 m2. In 2007, the company launched a strategy involving intelligent logistics centres, which kicked off with the construction of a centre in Ciempozuelos (Madrid) and was subsequently extended to include centres in Ribarroja (Valencia), Villadangos (León), Guadix (Granada) and Abrera (Barcelona). The final phases still need to be incorporated into this last block. Around €300 million has been invested to date.

In recent years, Mercadona has invested €700 million in its logistics platforms. It will open its next centre in Vitoria, whose first phase will be operational next year, following a €50 million investment.

Relief for Parc Sagunt

This operation was approved on Wednesday by the Board of Directors of Parc Sagunt, the property developer of the land that is jointly owned by the Generalitat Valenciana and the state owned company Sepi (50% each), which have invested €132 million. Mercadona’s arrival at the industrial estate represents a breath of fresh air for the space that had become something of a problem for the Administration. Even though the majority of the site has been completed since 2008, only three companies currently operate there and most of the land is still up for sale.

The plot that Mercadona has acquired is well known, given that in 2007, it was awarded to the Ros Casares group to open its major steel works Brava Steel, but that was never built. Now it has been sold for 41% less.

There are currently 26 other plots of land for sale and experts expect that, thanks to the arrival of Mercadona, demand for those plots will now increase, after years of paralysis.

Original story: Expansión (by J.B. and A.C.A)

Translation: Carmel Drake